The colors of Havana

Photos taken during Christmas break in Havana City and Viñales, in Cuba. The photos barely reflect the richness of the city encompassing a vast number of historical sites, an amazing 7-kilometer sea front, an endless number of colorful buildings, a street museum of classic cars and most importantly: the warmth of Cuban people.

As a means of protest, the Cuban government has placed a bunch of Cuban flags in the ‘Monument to the Anti-Imperialism’ blocking the view from the US section office in Havana.

The best spot to enjoy the sunset in Havana is in ‘El Morro’ fort in East Havana. Down the hill, there is a small restaurant called ‘Los 12 apóstoles’ and a small bar next to it. From this spot, you can see the sun fall down behind the skyline of Havana City and enjoy a mojito for 3 USD. Also, as illustrated in the photos below, locals visit this spot to enjoy the sunset with a bottle of rum and a local cola soda.

The pictures below were taken in Viñales, a small town about two hours away from Havana. Viñales, located in the Pinar del Rio province, is one of the most productive lands in Cuba with extensive areas of tobacco, sugar cane and other crops. A visit to Viñales (and Pinar del Rio) is worthwhile to learn about the cigar production process from the harvesting of tobacco, to the cigar rolling, to the packaging. Also, the landscape in Viñales is beautiful and is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Hi Alberto,
I work as a freelancer web designer mostly and currently I am working on a web for a restaurant influenced by Cuba. I would really like to use about 2-4 photos from this gallery in my design. Can You please let me know under which condition I would be allowed to if any and if there is even a possibility to do that? Of course I will not steal any of Your amazing work here if You say no. 🙂

Alberto, You are very kind. I will of course try to make a credit to you and post a link to Your blog from the webpage footer IF (!) it is done (I am in a phase where the customer will choose between about 5 designs including mine). The webpage would be for the “Havana restaurant” and I would be probably interested in those photos of Yours:

Btw, Your photos are amazing and I love them. I would be curious which camera and lenses You use and if You participate in some photo-competitions, You should if You don’t 🙂 The compositions and colours are real deal …

Thanks a lot for your kind words Ondrej. I use Sony Alpha (a99) and a standard 24-70 lens (mostly). I haven’t participated in any contest so the tender for your website will be the closest to a competition. Good luck with the process and I hope you will get the deal. Send some news. Best, Alberto